Strategies for Treatment and Prevention of Burnout

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This episode explains what burnout is, examines the symptoms, illustrates why it occurs, provides a burnout questionnaire to assess burnout levels, and provides strategies to prevent its occurrence.

“It’s not an easy decision to quit a sport you once loved. It’s something I have done before…”

This episode is based on an article in the Peak Performance newsletter by Dr. Adam Nicholls called Understanding burnout in sport: strategies for treatment and prevention. Dr. Nicholls is a senior lecturer in the Department Sport, Health, and Exercise Science at the University of Hull.

Burnout Questionnaire

Answer the questions relating to how you have been feeling over the last few weeks in your sport

Almost Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Frequently

Almost Always

1. I am not achieving worthwhile things in my sport

1

2

3

4

5

2. I feel tired due to my training, which results in my having little energy to do non-sport related activities

1

2

3

4

5

3. The energy and effort I put into sport would be better placed on other activities

1

2

3

4

5

4. Playing my sport is making feel very tired

1

2

3

4

5

5. I don’t seem to be achieving too much in my sport

1

2

3

4

5

6. I no longer care about my sport as much as I did in the past

1

2

3

4

5

7. My sporting performances don’t match my ability

1

2

3

4

5

8. My sport makes me feel wiped out

1

2

3

4

5

9. I am not as interested in my sport as I once was

1

2

3

4

5

10. I am physically shattered from my sport

1

2

3

4

5

11. I am less bothered about whether I am successful or not in my sport

1

2

3

4

5

12. I am shattered from the psychological and physiological demands of my sport

1

2

3

4

5

13. No matter how hard I try, I can’t perform as well as I could

1

2

3

4

5

14. I don’t feel successful in my sport

1

2

3

4

5

15. I have many negative thoughts and feelings towards my sport

1

2

3

4

5

You can add up all of the questions to reveal your overall burnout score in addition to adding up certain questions to reveal your score for the reduced sense of achievement, emotional and physical exhaustion, and sport devaluation subscales.

Add up all of your scores to reveal your total burnout score.

Add up your scores for questions 1, 5, 7, 13, and 14 to reveal your score for the reduced sense of achievement.

Add up your scores for questions 2, 4, 8, 10, and 12 to reveal your score for the emotional and physical exhaustion subscale.

Interpreting your score You overall score will range from 15 to 75. The higher your overall score, the more at risk you are from burning out. Scores of between 15 and 34 indicate that you are not at danger of burning out as a consequence of your sport. Scores of between 35 and 54 indicate that you are exhibiting signs of burning out, whereas a score of between 55 and 57 suggest that you are at risk of burning out.

In addition to calculating your overall score, you might find it more useful to work out your score for each of the three subscales as this provides more specific information. Your score on each of these subscales will range between 5 and 15. Similar to your overall score, a higher score represents that you would have a reduced sense of achievement, more exhaustion, or devalue your sport more, respectively.